In the Shadow of Three Bolts: In Memoriam
by Rumour of an Alchemist
Summary: Alternate Universe. Lily Snape visits her first husband's grave on the anniversary of his death. Uncanon canon characters.


Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is a glimpse into the 'Shadow of Three Bolts' alternate universe where Voldemort was 'killed' in the Battle of Godric's Hollow on Hallowe'en 1980. The universe followed canon up until approximately the moment that Voldemort decided (at some point in the summer of 1980, I assumed) that Harry Potter was the child he should kill, at which point canon rapidly became shredded, as Severus Snape decided to go to Lily _directly_ to warn her instead of Dumbledore. Instead of the Potters going on the run or trying to hide, the Order of the Phoenix laid a trap for Voldemort which resulted in the aforementioned Battle of Godric's Hollow, which finished the wizarding war twelve months ahead of canon. James Potter did not survive the Battle of Godric's Hollow, and though Lily did she paid a high mental and emotional cost...

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Godric's Hollow, October 31st, 1981

Lily stood in the graveyard looking at the plain headstone in the morning light. She was clutching her daughter in her arms; Severus was a respectful distance off looking after Harry.

"Sorry James.", Lily whispered. "I know it's been almost twelve months since the funeral, but it's been a rough time for me." She paused, wondering what else to say. Everything she'd prepared and had been thinking about had gone to pieces, faced with having to stand here looking at James' grave. "That night… that night when it all went horribly wrong, and he just burst in and killed you. Things have been difficult ever since." Tears were running down her face. "I lost you, and it hurt more than I ever thought anything could, and then that monster… I killed him James, but it was awful, and…" she trailed off and swallowed. "It was like I was walking around afterwards seeing and hearing things which were happening, but they seemed to be happening to another person. I wasn't quite there. It was like I was watching someone else. People were saying things but the words didn't mean anything. Except for one thing which Horace said, and that was worse, because he practically told me that that monster is going to be back again some day. He said he thinks Riddle made _horcruxes_, James, to preserve his own evil life. And that made everything worse." She bit her lip. "James. I know you and he never got on well, but I'd lost you and there wasn't anything else for me to hold on to. And at the end there, he _did_ try to step in the way of that monster and took a binding curse and a cruciatus curse for his pains. You _almost_ had time to get your wand back, and things would have been so different if you had. But he was there for me in the midst of my grief. I _needed_ him, because he was there and you weren't. James. We're married now. We have a little girl, and Harry has a sister – Celia Johanna Roberta Brearley Snape. I've brought her along to see you. Except of course she's decided to go to sleep…" She adjusted her grip on the sleeping child. "I think I must have been a bit mad, taking on Severus, given some of the things he's done, though he did some brave things there at the end of the war and seemed to have finally woken up to what an idiot he'd been. But since he's been with me, he seems to be changing. He worships the ground I walk on. I swear he'd kiss my feet if I asked it. There's still a lot of the old Severus there – the one you and the marauders used to call 'Snivellus' – but it's changing day by day. I think he sincerely regrets a lot of what he did. He tries to get on with Remus and Peter; he's even civil to Sirius, if you can believe that! I don't know any of them will ever be able to forget what happened at school; I hope they'll at least forgive it. Oh, Peter got an Order of Merlin, Second Class, by the way, much to his surprise. I think he feels a bit guilty about selling us out twice, even though that ended up bringing down Voldemort. He doesn't seem to have realised Dumbledore played him. I'm trying to keep Peter on the straight and narrow, because he was one of your old friends. I asked him to be godfather to Celia, in the hope that that gives him a bit of confidence and a sense of being wanted..."

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Author Notes:

So, Lily visits her (first) husband's grave on the anniversary of the battle and his death. She and Severus married fairly quickly in November, because Lily had gone to pieces and Severus was about the only person who could 'connect' with her and whom she could cling on to.

Celia is named partially after members of the Ashes winning England cricket team of the summer of 1981 (John Emburey, Bob Willis, Mike Brearley) - the series was in full swing when she was born.

This piece is part of the same alternate universe as 'In the Shadow of Three Bolts: Touching Magic'.


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